Book of Secrets? More like manly diary goodness!
by smoking caramels
Summary: Elizabeth is back with Riley and the gang for an all new adventure. What messes will the youngest Chase sister get herself into this time? Let's hope this bad guy doesn't form an obsession on her like the last one did. RileyOC AbigailBen
1. Off to break the law!

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter One**

Elizabeth was sitting at her kitchen table... well, _their_ kitchen table. She grinned to herself and stared happily at her mug of coffee. She and Riley had moved in together into a nice little house in Washington DC. Her thoughts drifted off to Riley-land, there was no la-la land for this girl, and her smile, if possible, became wider. He was off at a bookstore selling his book about the Templar treasure. She glanced at the copy on the table and patted it fondly.

As Riley's girlfriend, she thought it her duty to read his book. That and if he asked her one more time if she had read it, she would have killed him with his own book. She sighed happily: she was off work today, she had coffee, and Riley would soon be coming back home. Her thoughts strayed out of Riley-land to the current affairs of her sister and Benjamin Gates.

They had been living together nicely until they slowly broke apart. It was so strange but they just nit-picked at the other until Ben moved out and in with his father. She thought over the newest discovery, Ben gates ancestor had had a hand in Lincoln's assassination. She frowned: surely, it couldn't be true. The Gates family was _the_ most patriotic bunch she had ever met. For one of them to have helped kill the president was unthinkable.

The phone began to ring. She sighed and got up, slowly making her way to the phone.

"Too early..." she grumbled."

"Hello?" she asked.  
"May I please speak to Riley Poole?"  
"This is his girlfriend, can I help you?"  
"This is the IRS. We would just like to inform Mr. Poole that we are impounding his vehicle and anything else we see fit until he is able to pay his fine plus interest."  
"Wha-"  
"Good day ma'am."

She hung up the phone numbly. What on earth? She pulled out her cell phone and called Riley.

"Hey, Riley, the IRS just called saying they're impounding your car and anything else they want to. Do you have any idea why?"  
She heard him groan over the phone, "Yeah, I watched them tow it. Apparently when your accountant sets up a corporation on an island that doesn't exist you get audited and fined."  
"Yikes."  
"Yeah, don't worry though, we'll figure something out."  
"Okay, what are you doing now?"  
"Walking back from the book store, I'll see you at home, okay?"  
"Yeah, I'll be here."  
"Love you."  
"Love you too."

She hung up, smiling softly to herself. Despite the fact that her boyfriend, did she need to announce it, BOYFRIEND, was being audited and fined millions of dollars, he still could make her feel better by just talking to her. She went upstairs to take a shower and get dressed, although in her opinion it was still too early to be up, I mean, noon? Who wakes up before that?

___

She stepped outside to get the mail when she saw Ben and Riley standing on the front porch.

"What's going on?" she asked, glancing between the two of them.  
"We're going to break into your sister's house!" Riley chirped, rather excited.  
"Ah, yeah, sorry about her Ben, she changed her security code. I _tried_ to blackmail it out of her but... no go," Elizabeth said, shrugging her shoulders apologetically.  
"Eh, that's okay. I need to get her Archives ID," he said as they began to move Riley's stuff into the front hall.  
"Stealing more documents?" she teased.  
"I need to prove Thomas Gates' innocence," he said somberly.  
"Don't worry Ben, if anyone can do that, it's you," she said kindly.

He nodded his head absentmindedly. They all piled into Ben's car and headed over to Abigail's place.

"Off to break the law!" Elizabeth shouted as they pulled out, pumping her fist in the air.

___

"I can't believe you have to break into your own house," Riley muttered as they made their way up the driveway.  
"I need to get Abigail's ID. She had access to the Booth diary page," Ben said.  
"Why don't you ask Abigail for her help?" Riley asked.  
"She changed the alarm code Riley, she's not going to talk to me," Ben muttered.  
"The man has a point," Elizabeth said.

They walked up to the door as Ben got out his keys.

"All right, we have thirty seconds after the alert starts to disable the alarm. Go!" Riley said, as they opened the door.

He took the cover off the beeping alarm box and began to hook up his decoder.

"So, I know I'll probably regret asking this, but what happened with you and Abigail?" Riley asked.  
"I'm curious as well," Elizabeth said.  
"I don't know, ya know, I don't know. She stared using the word 'so' a lot," Ben said, sighing.  
"That's never a good sign," she murmured.  
"'So'?" Riley asked.  
"Yeah, like, 'So I guess my opinion doesn't matter.' 'So, you seem to always know what's best.' 'So, I guess I'm invisible.' Now I've moved out and we're dividing up the furniture," Ben continued spitting out every 'so'.

The beeping stopped.

"Oh, women, can't live with them, _especially_ if they change the alarm codes," Riley muttered, detaching his decoder.  
"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asked, placing her hands on her hips.  
"And you are the one exception to the rule!" he replied, laughing nervously.  
"Good answer."

"You did that in twenty-five seconds?" Ben asked, incredulous, glancing at his watch.  
"That's why I tell people to get a dog," he replied.  
"I like cats! I don't want a dog! You're walking it!" Elizabeth said gleefully, bounding up the stairs ahead of the boys who simply rolled their eyes.

They walked into Abigail's study, Ben opening a drawer and immediately locating her ID.

"Got it," he said triumphantly.  
"All right, let's go," Riley said.

They all froze as they heard a car approaching. Ben moved over to the window to get a better look at the driveway.

"That's not Abigail's car," he murmured.

Elizabeth and Riley joined him.

"She was on a date."

They watched a man get out of the car quickly to try and help Abigail out.

"I'm so sorry Ben," Elizabeth whispered, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.  
"Isn't that that guy? The White House guy?" Riley asked.

"So, the White House Easter Egg Roll is next Monday. Maybe if you're not..." they heard him say.

Riley chuckled to himself, "He's weird."  
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Like you're any better."

"What happens if the kids don't find all the eggs?" Abigail's voice floated to them.

They quickly made their way back down the stairs to the main hall.

"Wow, you work in a museum and you live in one," the man said.  
Abigail chuckled, "Pretty much."

"What clever repartee, she must like him," Riley observed.  
"She's such a dork, obviously _I'm_ the cooler sister," Elizabeth huffed.  
"Obviously," Riley said smiling.

Elizabeth and Riley hid in a closet while Ben moved off into another corridor.

"All right, let me give you the a tour of the house," they heard Abigail say as she opened the door.  
"Okay," the man replied.  
"That's actually kind of-" Abigail looked around suspiciously.

Ben walked briskly out of the corridor holding a box. He feigned surprise, "Oh, Abigail!"  
"What are you doing here?" she asked.  
"I just needed to get some things. Connor, good to see you again," Ben replied jovially.  
"Gates," Connor said quietly, obviously remembering his first encounter with Ben when he had made a toast to high treason.  
Abigail cocked her head to the side, "How'd you get in Ben?" Ben didn't reply, "Riley! Come out here! Elizabeth, I know you're here too!" she shouted, quite angry.

"What?" Riley came out of the closet first, Elizabeth following him, "Heey!" he began to giggle to himself, "What are you doing here? I mean, it's your house, but... hey I sent you a copy of my book, did you get a chance-"  
"No, I haven't read it yet," she said quietly.  
Riley shook his head and turned to Connor, walking up the steps, his hand outstretched, "I know you: you're the White House curator. I'm Riley, we met uh, back in..." Riley trailed off realizing he'd never really met the man.  
"Right, you're Ben's assistant," Connor said, shaking his hand.  
Riley winced, "What?"

"Um, maybe I should go," Conner said, turning back to Abigail.  
"Yeah, I'm really..." she moved them both farther up the steps.  
"Dinner tomorrow night?" he asked.  
"Oh, I... I actually have plans for tomorrow," she replied.

Elizabeth giggled, earning a harsh glare from her sister.

"Oh, you do? ...Of course you do..." Connor said dejectedly.  
Abigail glanced at Ben, "But, I'm free on Friday."  
Riley said in a singsong voice, "Awkward!"  
"Oh great!" Connor replied with a laugh of relief, he leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek.  
"Goodnight," they both said.

Connor left and Abigail whirled around, glaring at the three intruders.

"I cannot believe you broke in!" she snapped, walking down the steps towards them.  
"Maybe if you hadn't of changed the code, it wouldn't be breaking in now would it?" Elizabeth asked sweetly. She merely received the evil eye.  
"What'd you take?" she asked Ben, holding her hand out expectantly.  
"It's just my things..." Ben replied.

She took the box from him but still held out her hand, "Hand it over Ben."  
He sighed and dug around in his pocket, pulling out the ID but not giving it to her, "I need to see the Booth diary page."  
"You saw the page for yourself, there is no treasure map on it."  
"No, it's a cipher leading to a map. Did anyone spectral-image the page?" he asked impatiently.  
"It's always a cipher Abby!" Elizabeth called out as they began to move down the corridor Ben had come out of.  
"No need to, the ink writing on the page is clearly visible," Abigail replied.  
"It could have been erased or faded. You're the director of document conservation, you should know all this," Ben scolded her.  
"It's not up to me, it's not my department."  
"That department reports to your department. Come on Abigail, one look under infared... You can have the Boston tea tables."

Everyone stopped.

"Both of them?" she asked, turning to look at him.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Freaks."

* * *

Here we go! Another installment of National Treasure with Elizabeth! I hope you guys like this one! I'm excited and the title just makes me laugh.

Aly


	2. Zyzzyva

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Two**

They arrived at the Archives and immediately began testing the page. They were in the basement and were gathered around a monitor with a picture of the diary page.

"We've been looking at this page for hours, there's nothing there," Riley moaned.  
"Ben, I really don't think we're going to find anything on this page," Abigail murmured.  
"There's got to be _something_ Abby," Elizabeth said quietly.  
"Well, look at it this way, in a hundred years no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth," Riley said, trying to cheer up Ben.

Ben glanced up at Riley incredulously, "That's not true," he pinched the bridge of nose, "Do you know the expression, 'His name is mud'?"  
"Yes of course," Riley replied automatically.  
Elizabeth smacked Riley's arm, suppressing a smile.  
"You do? You know the origin of the expression." Ben asked rhetorically, knowing full well that Riley did not know.  
"Does anyone but you?"  
Ben smiled sadly, "Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. The evidence was circumstantial, he was later pardoned but it didn't matter. Mudd's name still lives in infamy and I will not let Thomas Gates' name be mud."

"Abby, what's that?" Elizabeth asked, pointing at a residual spot on the paper.  
"Ben?" Abigail said, getting the boys' attention.  
"Look at this, see that?"  
"Oh that's quite something isn't it," Ben murmured, moving back over to the screen and staring hard.  
"Yeah, it says smudge," Riley said, completely serious, "It's nothing."  
"Such a doubting Thomas," Elizabeth remarked to which she received Riley sticking out his tongue in reply.  
"Residual ink from the facing page, flip it. The letters are backwards, it's a cipher." Ben said as Abigail pressed some buttons and the pictures flipped, showing the back of the page.  
"Yes it is," Abigail murmured, staring hard at the letters on the screen.  
"It's a cipher, see how the letters are coupled?" Ben said, pointing to each pair of letters, "Playfair ciphers encode letters in pairs. This could prove his story!"  
"Unless you decode this cipher, this does not prove a theory at all," Abigail warned him.  
"Eh, that's okay! We need a five-letter keyword," Ben said, already thinking hard.  
"And that would be...?" Elizabeth asked.  
"What's the keyword?" Riley asked excitedly.  
"I don't know yet," Ben muttered.

Riley and Elizabeth both smacked their foreheads as the universal symbol of 'duh'.

"Can I get a print out of this?" Ben asked Abigail.

Abigail moved away from the machine over to a printer, Ben following her.

"There's a billion words in the English language, there's got to be a logical... Let's start from the beginning. A, um aardvark!" Riley said.  
"Why not the end? Zyzzyva!" Elizabeth squealed.  
"Excuse me?" he asked, "You made that up!"  
"Did not! It's a noun, 'any of various South American weevils of the genus _Zyzzyva_, often destructive to plants' (1) Hah!" she crowed.  
Abigail, Ben, and Riley gave her a strange look.  
"What? You've never perused the dictionary before?"  
"That's not even worth answering," Riley muttered.

Abigail shook her head and turned to address Ben, "You know, I don't want to rain on your parade here Ben, but I don't think this is gonna stop Dr. Nichols from announcing the discovery of the page tomorrow."  
"No, now wait! Can't you just ask him to wait until I prove Thomas is innocent?" Ben pleaded with her.  
"What if he isn't innocent Ben?" she handed him the paper and walked back over to the computer.

Elizabeth and Riley shot each other looks, each hoping that Thomas _was_ innocent.

(1) dictionary . reference . com

* * *

Sorry it's short, I have two papers due tomorrow. Enjoy!

Aly


	3. Laboulaye Lady

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth. _

**Chapter Three**

"Bacon," Riley murmured.  
"Yummy," Elizabeth muttered, her head resting in her arms as she slouched on the table.

Riley was diligently typing in every five-lettered word in the alphabet to try to break the cipher. Ben stood anxiously behind him as nothing but gibberish popped up in the Playfair cipher decoder.

"Keep going," Ben said quietly.  
"That's stupid," Riley said, referring to the mixed up letters.

He typed in baron: more gibberish.

"How's your dad doing Ben?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Keep working," Ben muttered and left the room to go talk with his father.

Elizabeth sighed and sat up, stretching.

"This could take forever," she mumbled tiredly.  
"You're telling me," Riley replied absentmindedly.  
"Do we even know what treasure we're looking for?"  
"No, but what does it matter? Ben's not going to stop until he finds it."  
"That is true, let's hope there's no bad guys this time."

Riley looked up from his screen and laid his hand atop hers.

"Never again."

Elizabeth leaned towards Riley until she was an inch from his face, "No, never again."

They shared a gentle kiss before Riley turned back to the cipher. Elizabeth put her head back in her arms and began to doze off.

"Try death!" Ben yelled.

Riley looked up at him with a blank look on his face while Elizabeth almost fell out of her chair in surprise.

"What?" Riley mumbled.  
"It's the key code. The debt that all men pay is death," Ben said excitedly.

They all crowded around the computer as Riley typed it in.

"L-A-B-O-U-L...E...L-A-D... It's Lab-ool... lab-ahl...La...la...it's gibberish," Riley muttered.  
Ben snapped his fingers, "Laboulaye!"  
Patrick looked at his son, "Laboulaye!"  
Riley and Elizabeth looked at each other, "Laboulaye!"  
"What is that?" Riley asked.  
"Yeah I'm going to have to ask too," Elizabeth said.  
"It's a who: Edouard Laboulaye," Ben said.

"Where's the phone?" Ben muttered, beginning to search the dining room which was covered in artifacts.  
"I don't know son, I can't find anything in this mess," Patrick said as Ben moved into the hallway.  
"It's temporary til I find a new place," Ben called over his shoulder.  
"Find the old one, I like her."

Elizabeth snickered into her hand and Riley smirked to himself.

They listened in as Ben called Abigail.

"We cracked the cipher, it's Laboulaye. The cipher spells Laboulaye!" Ben shouted into the phone.  
They couldn't hear what Abigail was saying so it was a one-sided conversation for them.

"Or maybe there was a treasure map like Thomas _Gates_ said there was and Laboulaye heard it. We only got a partial on the next word," Ben moved back behind Riley, "L-A-D, lad, ladder..."  
"Aladdin! Aladdin?" Riley whispered.  
Elizabeth lightly punched his arm as Ben moved into the kitchen.  
"Thank you Abigail: Laboulaye Lady! Do you know what Laboulaye was planning right around the time Lincoln was assassinated?"  
"There's a map or a clue to a map on the statue... She hung up!" Ben turned around incredulous.

They all stood up and followed Ben into the kitchen.

"She took your call, that was good," Patrick said.  
"Very good," Elizabeth reiterated.  
"Are you saying there's a treasure map on the Statue of Liberty?" Riley asked excitedly.  
"Laboulaye was a Mason, they built clues into everything," Patrick said.  
"Did you learn that from my book?" Riley asked expectantly.

The two men just stared at each other awkwardly. Elizabeth tried her hardest not to laugh but a couple giggles did escape earning her a harsh glare from Riley.

"So, the only question is, which Statue of Liberty?" Patrick said, breaking the awkward atmosphere.  
Riley clapped his hands, "Exactly... is there more than one?"  
"There's more than one?!" Elizabeth asked incredulously.  
"There are three, actually, Riley, Elizabeth. One is in New York, one is Luxembourg Garden," Patrick said calmly.  
"But he only referred to one as his 'lady'," Ben said.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Elizabeth broke it, "And that is where...?"

"Paris, France," Patrick and Ben said simultaneously.

Elizabeth sighed, "Well it's a good thing we're loaded then."  
"True that," Riley muttered, packing up his laptop.

* * *

I'm apologize that there was such a long break for this to come out. Things came up, as they usually do. I hope you guys like it. It's short, I know.

Aly


	4. Fish women

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Four**

"Ben! PLEASE! I absolutely **need** to go visit Versailles. Please please please please please please please please please please please please please ple-"  
"ELIZABETH!"  
"What?"  
"Why do you **need** to visit Versailles?"  
"Because there were crazy fish woman who attacked it."  
"What history did you learn that from?"  
"_A Tale of Two Cities_, _The Scarlet Pimpernel_, don't you read Ben?"  
"Can we quiet down kiddies? Uncle Riley is trying not to run his expensive helicopter into the Statue of Liberty."

Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest and let out an exasperated sigh. What kind of historian was Ben if he wouldn't let her go visit Versailles? Loser.

"This is like impossible what you're doing," Ben said, turning his attention from the sulking Elizabeth to Riley.

Riley had a mini helicopter with a camera on it so that they might be able to find the clue on the French Statue of Liberty.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Riley said, perking up now that things had calmed down.  
"Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere on here. Move in on torch," Ben murmured.  
"Let me get there, it's not as easy as it looks," Riley replied.  
"No, believe me, I understand," Ben said, glancing backwards as two French police officers on bicycles stopped behind them.

The men spoke in French, obviously displeased with what the trio was doing. Ben walked towards them. Elizabeth pecked a kiss on Riley's cheek, almost causing him to wreck, and bounded after Ben.

"Excuse me officer, may I help you?"  
"Ah, Americans, eh?" the two men sent each other disparaging looks.  
"No, I'm from Saxony, Germany but an American citizen who worked in Egypt for her job. What a conundrum!" she snapped.

If there was one thing that ticked Elizabeth off it was when people automatically assumed that because she spoke English she was a. American and b. idiotic.

Ben tried to hide his smile.

"Our apologies miss," the police officer said, "But of course you see no problem in disturbing everyone's pleasant morning with your buzzing there," he gestured to Riley who still hadn't found anything.  
"Heeeyyy," Ben said, obviously kissing up, "Did you know how much our constitution was influenced by your man, Montesquieu?"  
"You know Montesquieu?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.  
"Oui, Montesquieu, yeah _'A government should be set up so that'_" Ben started.  
Both the policemen and Ben finished, "_'...no man need be afraid of another.'_"  
"Showoffs," Elizabeth muttered.  
"Oui," Ben said.  
"That's very good," the police officer said, obviously impressed.  
"Thank you," Ben said graciously.  
"I'm astonished," the police officer continued.

Riley bounded up, "Ben! I got it! I got it.... I hope you can read French," he muttered, handing the screen over to Ben.  
"May I?" the police officer asked.  
Ben nodded his consent.  
"He's a cop," Riley hissed.  
"We haven't broken the law yet Riley," Elizabeth whispered.

The two police officers conferred with each other in French for a moment.

"Um, _'Across the sea these twins stand determined_...'" the police officer said.  
The other one, who had kept quiet the entire time spoke in French.  
"Resolute, yeah, '_to preserve what we are looking for._' Uh, Laboulaye 1876," he finished.

"It's a clue," Riley said.  
"It's always a clue," Elizabeth muttered.  
"'_These twins stand resolute._' Let's see... Resolute twins," Ben slowly began to move a bit away from the group, "Resolute... resolute... And then, twins: Siamese twins? Siam? Trade routes between France and Thailand?"

Riley shook his head yes.

"That's ridiculous!" Ben said, chuckling a bit.

Riley shook his head no. Elizabeth leaned against a pillar and shook her head derisively.

"That's ridiculous. HMS Resolute!" He whorled around and faced them, "A British ship that got lost in the Arctic in the 1800s. It was salvaged by American whalers and then Congress sent it back to England. When the ship was finally retired, Queen Victoria had two desks made from its timbers. Voila! Resolute twins."  
"And where are these desks now?" the police officer asked.  
"The closest one is in London. Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?" Ben asked excitedly.  
"I don't know, why don't you ask your new best friend?" Riley muttered sulkily.

The two police officers conversed in French together.

"He's going to call you a cab," he said.  
"Mercie," Ben said.  
"Ok, nice helicopter," he turned towards Riley, "Is that yours?"  
"Yes actually, it is," Riley said, puffing out his chest in pride.  
"Ok, so you get the ticket."

Elizabeth began to laugh as Riley mumbled, "Great."

As the cab pulled up, Elizabeth muttered threateningly to Ben, "I swear to God if I do not get to see the inside of the Tower of London, I will personally make sure you never see the outside again: just like little Eddie the V."  
"Riley, can you keep Elizabeth occupied so that I don't get cemented into a wall in London?"  
"I'll do my best Ben!"  
"Traitor!"

* * *

During the French Revolution, a large group of women marched to Versaille and demanded bread and other necessities. They brought back the Royal family and basically sealed their death. You don't want to cross these women.

If you've never read _A Tale of Two Cities_ or _The Scarlet Pimpernel_, you really must. They are excellent books and you won't want to gauge your eyes out since you'll be reading for fun!

* * *

King Henry VII died, leaving two young boys, Edward V specifically, behind. His brother, Richard (soon to become the III) became protectorate. He put the boys in the tower claiming them to be in danger. Later he declared them illegitimate through a piece of legislation and they were never seen again. It is thought they were murdered and cemented into the walls of the Tower of London.

* * *

There's some history for you!

Aly


	5. Haggis

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Five**

"So the Queen's office is here, the elevator shaft gets you close but the only direct access is through security," Riley said, pointing at the 3-D image of Buckingham Palace on his computer screen.

Elizabeth was lying on the couch opposite him and Ben, staring up at the ceiling. "Isn't it always through security?" she muttered.  
"Well that should be exciting," Ben commented.

"Yeah, we've got to get you in that room," Riley murmured, staring hard at the blueprints.

Ben's phone began to beep: he pushed away from Riley and answered it.

"Hi, dad."  
There was a pause.  
"Call the police, I'm coming home," Ben said quickly.

Elizabeth sat up, "Is he okay?"  
"What happened?" Riley asked.

"Okay, we're in London. We're going to Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon."  
"Bye."

Ben turned towards Elizabeth and Riley, "Someone else is after the treasure."  
"Of course someone else is after the treasure, it's the axiom of treasure hunting," Riley said sarcastically.  
"Now it gets interesting," Elizabeth said, not at all thrilled.  
"We have to hurry up and see that desk," Ben muttered.  
"We don't want to miss that appointment," Riley reminded him.

* * *

Ben, Elizabeth, and Riley made their way through the crowd towards the Palace guards.

"Hi, Ben Gates," Ben said, shaking hands with a guard.  
"See security, they'll let you in," the man said.

Once they were all inside, Riley went to a bathroom stall to set up his equipment. Elizabeth and Ben strolled around the inside, about to execute their plans.

Ben and Elizabeth placed the earpieces in their ears, making sure they couldn't be seen easily. Ben took out a bottle of scotch and put a little in his mouth and a little on his neck. He handed the bottle to Elizabeth. Elizabeth followed his example and put some on her neck and mouth.

"Abigail!" Ben and Elizabeth said, freezing.  
"Abigail, what's she doing here?" Riley hissed.  
"What're you doing here?" Ben asked.  
"Your dad called me: said your next clue was here," she said, completely unaware of their plans.  
"She's really there?" Riley asked and received no answer.

Elizabeth patted Ben's shoulder and whispered, "Use Abby to start the scene instead of me, I'll be lurking around and I'll meet up with you guys."

She turned to her sister, who was giving them both a confused and suspicious look. "Well, I need to be going Abby, but I'll see you later today I bet!"

She smiled and walked away, making her way downstairs, and pretended to be engrossed in a piece of pottery.

"Look Ben, I want to help," Abigail said.

"Drop her, lose her!" she heard Riley hiss.  
"Oh, that's very nice, but it's a bad time right now," Ben snapped.  
"A bad time, right now?" she asked, confused.  
"It's a bad time," Ben clarified.  
"Ok, I just flew all the way to London to offer my help and you don't need it," Abigail said, scoffing slightly.  
"Ben, remember the plan," Riley cautioned.  
"New plan Riley," Elizabeth murmured as she continued to watch them inconspicuously.

"You're the one who's making a scene right now," Ben said.  
"I-I'm not making a scene right now!" Abigail sputtered.  
"We want to make a scene," Elizabeth and Riley whispered at the same time.  
Ben heard.

"Well then fine!" he yelled, "If that's what you want, let's have it out now!"  
"Ah... so subtle," Riley commented.  
"Ben's always the subtle one Riley," Elizabeth murmured.

The crowds of people in the main entrance all paused and stared up at Abigail and Ben.

"Let me guess? It's the wrong time!" Ben shouted.  
"Ben..." Abigail said softly, not really understanding why he was suddenly shouting.  
"It's the wrong place!" he began to march down the steps to a small landing, over-exaggerating his every movement and continuing to shout, "I'm wrong again! Wrong about us, wrong about Thomas Gates, wrong that you'd like the Queen Anne Chair!"  
Abigail followed him down the steps, hissing angrily, "You're wrong to assume I'd like the chair!"  
Ben bounded down another flight of stairs to a group of tourists, "You see? Everybody, listen to this! This is more interesting than that. She thinks that even when I'm right, I'm wrong! Isn't that right? Abigail, just because I answer a question quickly doesn't make it wrong."  
"Not if the right answer's something we need to figure out as a couple. That's what couples do Ben!" Abigail snapped, finally getting angry.

A guard came up to Ben, "Sir, you and your missus, take it outside."

Ben rolled his eyes, "Oh, now look what you've done! You've brought the little bobbies down on us!" he shouted to Abigail and then he turned his attention back to the guard, "You take the missus outside, I'm staying right here."

And with that, Ben jumped onto the banister and slid down.

"Ben!" Abigail shrieked.  
"Whee!" Ben squealed.

"Genius," Elizabeth whispered.

At the bottom of the banister was another guard, "Good afternoon sir."  
Ben looked at him and replied in a British accent, "Hello!"  
"Been drinking have we?" he asked, leaning in and smelling the alcohol on Ben.  
"Just a nip: just popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of all right! Going to arrest a man for that? Going to detain a blighter for enjoying his whiskey?" Ben continued.  
"Sorry, that's enough," the guard snapped.

"Bangers and mash! Bubbles and squeak! Smoked eel pie!" Ben began to screech.  
"Sir!" the guard shouted, thoroughly angry with Ben.

"HAGGIS!" Ben screamed.

Elizabeth tried her best to not burst into laughter and just barely managed.

"That's it! Dismount the banister!" the guard shrieked, dragging Ben off the banister.  
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, there they are a'standing in a row!" Ben began to sing.

He and Abigail were dragged off as Ben continued to sing. Peace was soon restored to the main entrance.

"That, was brilliant," Riley commented.  
"I'm going to have to agree Ben, you should be in theater," Elizabeth chimed in.

* * *

Well there we go! This was really fun to write. I think I should have number six done by Sunday, at least I hope.

Thank you to everyone who told me my French sucks haha. I went back and fixed my mistakes so thank you for those who pointed it out.

Aly


	6. God save the Queen!

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Six**

"What's wrong with being right?" Ben asked.

They could still hear Ben clearly and Abigail faintly.

"Oh so you're saying that I'm never right?"  
"I did not say that."

"Looks like the love-birds are finally working their problems out," Elizabeth commented.  
"Finally," Riley agreed.

"Hoo! So I'm wrong again!"  
"Now, see, there you are correct."  
"Oh, capital! Topper!"  
"You know what, you're mother told me about you."

"In here please," they could hear a guard say.

"Why don't you just make a list of what's ok for me to say or not!"  
"All right!" a guard yelled.

"What's right or wrong..." Abigail continued to shout.  
"You two stay put, right?"  
"No, no no no no! Don't leave me in here!"

Elizabeth and Riley both winced as Ben screamed.  
"That's great, wow," Riley muttered, massaging his head.  
"My poor ear," Elizabeth mumbled.

"Ben, what is going on?"  
"I'm sorry for getting you roped into this, but you were excellent back there."  
"Well, thank you, so were you. Why did Elizabeth leave?"  
"Well I guess she figured that we would have more real anger than her and I."

"Got that right chaps," Elizabeth said cheerily, trying not to be too suspicious talking to seemingly no one.

"That is true, and thank you," Abigail said.  
"When did you figure out it was a fake argument?" Ben asked.  
"When did you figure out I was really arguing during the fake argument?" Abigail retorted.  
"Right in the middle there, the part where 'I always assume I'm right.' Riley, get us out. Which I don't get because if I'm right, after I assume I'm right, then I'm correct."  
"When you get to a conclusion without asking and you happen to be right, you got lucky."  
"I get lucky a lot."  
"So where does that leave me Ben?"

"You guys are so great together," Riley hummed, typing away on his laptop.

"You want to know why I'm here?" Ben asked.  
"Uh-huh."  
"I think there may be a clue on the resolute desk in the Queen's study... Does that help?"  
"I just don't understand why it's difficult for you to include others in your decisions: just because you may know what my answer is going to be doesn't mean you don't have to ask me."

"Door number one, opening," Riley said.

"Ok, let me try this out, Abigail, would you like to come with me, please?"  
"Yes, thank you."  
"Ridiculous, you're staying: it's too dangerous."  
"I am so coming."  
"Door number two."

"Door two coming up," Riley said.

"You're not coming."  
"Call security."

Elizabeth smacked the palm of her hand to her forehead: would Ben ever learn that her sister was stubborn?

"You should be near a service elevator," Riley instructed.

"What're you doing? Are those for the Queen?"  
"Queen's not here, there's no flag flying: Queen's at Windsor."

"If the Queen were here we would most likely start an international incident and we prefer to just cause national incidents," Elizabeth said cheerily, moving over to examine a tapestry on a wall.  
"And international incidents tend to have jail-time no matter what treasure you find," Riley chimed in.

"What're you doing Ben?"  
"Seeing the desk without you."  
"No!"

"Don't let her go!" Riley moaned.  
"Where else is she supposed to go Riley?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Away."  
Elizabeth had to stifle a giggle. She really was getting some strange stares.

"Abigail..." there was a brief pause and then Ben's panicked voice hissed over the ear-piece, "All right, get in get in GET IN! Hold this."  
There was another pause.  
"Will you give me the flowers back please?" Ben asked.  
"Yeah.... What?" Abigail asked suspiciously.  
"You're wearing the perfume I bought you."  
"So?"  
"So, I think it smells kind of pretty."  
"It's the flowers Ben."  
"No it's not."

There was another pause.

"That was good Ben, you're a real charmer despite the fact that you're in a service elevator in Buckingham palace. Real romantic," Elizabeth murmured casually.  
"A man does what he can; if I recall I fell for you after you tripped on the ground trying to run off with the Declaration," Riley whispered.  
"If I remember correctly, you quite literally fell for me," Elizabeth reminded him, blushing a little.

"Let's go," Ben said, interrupting Elizabeth and Riley's conversation.  
"Ok, now turn left," Riley said after a couple moments.  
"Dead end," Ben replied.  
"I mean right, go right," Riley corrected quickly.

After another pause, they heard Ben and Abigail mutter,

"Oh the flowers... petals... stamen..."  
"Good... good... go... go..."

"That's it," Ben said.  
"The resolute desk," Abigail whispered.  
"We're looking for... writing, patterns in the carvings. It could be anything... Hey look at this, 'Malcolm Gilvary, 1880.'" Ben said.

"Hold on... one second... Here we go, Malcolm Gilvary: Well he didn't make furniture, he made Chinese puzzle boxes." Riley said.

"What?" Abigail asked.  
"I think these drawers work like turn tables in a safe," Ben said.  
"Ok, four drawers, four-digit combination: what about a year?" Abigail suggested.  
"Uh, let me see: Queen Victoria, born 1819," Riley said quickly.  
"So you go one... eight... one... nine," Ben muttered.  
"Any luck?" Riley asked.  
"No," Ben muttered, "Ok, 1876 was on the inscription on the statue in Paris: let's try that. One... eight... seven... six..."  
"What'd you score?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Uh-oh, new rules: these markings, like Incan or Aztec," Ben said.  
"I have never seen any symbols like this; I mean this looks centuries older than Civil War. What do you think it means? Elizabeth should take a look at this, she might be able to tell us where they're from," Abigail said.  
"I doubt it has anything to do with the plot to assassinate Lincoln," Ben muttered.  
"If it's Native American I can't help Ben, but there's a professor here in the states who's a genius with Native American languages, we can go to her," Elizabeth said.

"Uh-oh, Mayday, mayday, Ben get out of there," Riley said quickly.  
"I'll go get the car," Elizabeth said, immediately making her way out of Buckingham palace.

"Ok, let's make some noise," she heard Riley say.

She was out in the courtyard when the fire alarm went off.

"Uh-oh, God save the Queen!" Riley said happily.

Elizabeth heard nothing else from the others and took out the earpiece, making her way through the crowds and across streets to get to the car. She had a crummy feeling that this wouldn't be a clean getaway: it never was.

* * *

Here's number six! I'm going to do my best to have number seven out by next weekend, but maybe earlier. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Aly


	7. San Andres

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Seven**

Elizabeth began to back the car out, keeping an eye on the rearview camera as Abigail, Ben, and Riley came closer. She saw Riley looking at a piece of wood, presumably, what they had found in the resolute desk. Suddenly, they began to run towards her. She unlocked the doors and stopped moving, unsure of what was going on. Abigail and Riley dove into the back seat and Ben practically tore off the passenger door.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Mitch is here!" Riley said from the back.  
"It's a gun! Get down!" Ben shouted.

They all ducked down and glanced at the camera, which showed one of Mitch's men advancing on the car with a gun drawn. He fired two shots, shattering the back windshield.

"We're trapped!" Riley squeaked.  
"Elizabeth, can you drive us out of here?" Ben asked breathlessly.  
"I got this Ben, trust me: this'll be just like San Andres!" she said cheerily, trying to ignore the adrenaline quickly pumping into her veins.

She slammed on the gas, and the car flew backwards. She steered the car around a man up onto the sidewalk, scattering luggage everywhere.

"What's San Andres?" Ben asked.  
"Elizabeth! That's a video game!" Riley panicked.  
"A video game?!" Ben yelled.  
"Are you insane?!" Abigail shrieked.  
"Chill! I got this!" came the confident reply.  
"We're going to die," Riley whimpered.

She continued to drive it backwards, side-swiping a car while avoiding the bullets. They were all still crouched down as she swung it into a small alleyway, nearly hitting some dogs. They watched incredulously as one of them licked the camera. Abigail sat up and called out to the owners of the dog, "Sorry!"

Elizabeth shifted into forward and took off just as the shooter closed in. She glanced back, and saw him drag a man out of a taxi and enter. A large, black, SUV closed in with Mitch driving.

"Elizabeth! They're getting closer!" Abigail said, panicking slightly.  
Elizabeth grimaced, keeping her eyes on the road.  
"What is their problem?!" Riley groused.

She took a hard right, causing the SUV to knock over some motorcycles.

"Left, go left!" Abigail shouted.  
"Hang on," she muttered.

The SUV caught up and rammed them. They came up to a T intersection with a large double-decker bus.

"Turn! Turn!" Riley yelled.

Elizabeth spun the wheel, but not quick enough. The back of the car hit the bus, shattering the side windows.

"Everybody ok?" Ben asked.

Abigail nodded and Riley just kept looking out the side mirrors. Elizabeth's knuckles were white and her face was marred by a scowl. She really just wanted to run Mitch over at this point but his car was bigger.

She accelerated only to become stuck behind an open bed truck with kegs. There was no way to get around it and it was going too slow, Mitch would catch up to them.

"Come on," she hissed, rather angry.

Ben glanced in a mirror and saw a gun pop out of the SUV.

"Look out!" he shouted.

They all, minus Elizabeth, ducked. Several shots hit the car, with some hitting the truck in front of them. The gate was blown open and the kegs began to fall in their path. She did her best to avoid them, but it was unavoidable. One flew up the front of the car while another blasted out of the truck and took off a statue's head.

"One hundred points," Elizabeth muttered, still trying to avoid the kegs.  
"Elizabeth!" Abigail reprimanded from the back.

In the mirror, they watched as the taxi was over-turned by the fallen kegs. Suddenly, there was an opening and Elizabeth slammed her foot on the accelerator. She then stomped on the brake, spinning the car around right in front of the truck. The driver slammed on his brakes, causing the SUV to crash it's left corner into the back of it. She quickly accelerated again, smoking her wheels and released the brake.

"Go go go go go!" Riley said, smacking the back of Ben's seat for emphasis.

After a couple tense seconds, Abigail's cell phone began to ring.

"What is that? Someone's phone," Riley said, thinking aloud.  
"It's him," Abigail said in a deadpanned voice.  
"You gave him your number?" Elizabeth asked incredulous.  
"You have him on speed-dial?" Riley asked, equally incredulous.  
"Oh, shut up," she snapped, handing the phone to Ben.

"Mitch, this has got to end before someone gets hurt," Ben said.  
After a moment of silence Ben snapped, "Tell that to my father." He hung up right as Elizabeth turned onto a street filled with pedestrians.

"Why are they standing in the street?" Riley asked.  
"What do you think Abs, couple hundred for every pedestrian I hit?" Elizabeth asked, mostly joking, honking the horn.  
"You do and I swear to God young lady-"  
"Where are all these people going?" Ben asked.  
"Why is everybody running?" Riley muttered to himself.

Abigail turned around to see the truck that had previously impeded them, coming right at them, not concerned at all by the pedestrians.

"Crap, I think I just ran over some guy's foot," Elizabeth muttered to herself.

Finally reaching the end of the alleyway, she quickly moved their much smaller car into another alleyway.

"Go! Faster!" Abigail shrieked as the large truck came up behind them quickly.

She was able to squeeze the car into another alleyway where the truck could not follow. They blasted out onto a main road, swerving around cars left and right.

"They're still behind us," Abigail said as the SUV began to catch up to them.  
"Does this phone have a camera in it?" Ben asked her.  
"No, no it's broken," she replied.  
Ben growled and tossed the phone back to her.  
"All right, give me the plank," Ben said, taking it from Riley's hands, "Elizabeth, I need you to run a red light."

He handed her the plank as she sped up towards the light.

"Ah!" Riley moaned as they sped into the intersection.

Elizabeth raised the plank to her face as the camera took pictures of the car. They were able to make it through the intersection unscathed.

"Hack into the London police data-base and get a copy of that picture from that traffic cam," Ben said, taking the plank back from Elizabeth.  
"Okey-dokey!" Riley snapped.  
"You can't do it?" Ben asked.  
"No I can do it, I just don't like that you _assume_ that I can do it," Riley muttered.  
Abigail chuckled and looked pointedly at Ben, "Why thank you Riley."

They swerved through another intersection as the SUV caught up to them yet again with the truck hot on their heels.

Soon they were on a bridge and Mitch's car was driving next to theirs.

Ben took the plank and held it out the window, slightly blocking Elizabeth's view. She snapped her teeth at his arm and ducked under it to see. Ben held the plank out the window as if he was going to hand it to Mitch. Then, he threw it over the car and into the river. Mitch and his men stopped traffic in order to retrieve the plank. They were safe, for now.

They drove on, their adrenaline slowly dissipating from their systems.

"Couple thousand," Elizabeth declared to the quiet car.  
"Pardon?" Ben asked, perplexed.  
"My points, I had to have reached a couple thousand at the very least," she said.  
"Nothing ever dampens your spirits," Abigail grumbled from the back.  
"Someone has to be optimistic; otherwise, I'd get some ghastly frown lines."

They all groaned, atypical Elizabeth: optimistic to a fault.

* * *

I'm so sorry this came so late. School has gotten crazy and I've come down with headaches every day so it's hard to look at a computer screen long enough to type. But here it finally is. I hope you guys like this scene, it makes me happy although I was a little hesitant to rewrite the scene with Elizabeth driving instead of Ben. I think it worked out well but tell me your thoughts!

Aly


	8. Should have bet

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Eight**

They were finally back in the US and were outside of Patrick's house. The door opened to reveal him and he quickly walked down the path towards them.

"Abigail!" he exclaimed.  
"Hey Patrick," Abigail said, stopping at the bottom of the stairs with her luggage. They embraced and Patrick took her suitcase.  
"Nice to see you two together again," he commented, turning back to his house.  
"Yeah, well, we're not," Abigail murmured.  
"Yeah..." Ben muttered.  
"Oh, I was hoping to get some of these boxes out of the house," Patrick said, thinking aloud.

Elizabeth and Riley were the last two to enter the house, Riley struggling with a couple huge suitcases that would not go up the couple stairs. Elizabeth giggled and helped push them up.

"What on earth do you have in here?" she asked as they entered the foyer.  
"My computer, back up hard drive, extra-"  
Elizabeth chuckled, "Of course, how could I forget about your computer equipment. I swear it's like we already have a child with the amount of stuff you lug around."  
"Are you trying to tell me something?!" he practically shrieked, whirling around.  
"Elizabeth! Riley! What are you doing?" Abigail called out sharply, hearing Riley shriek.  
"No, I'm not trying to tell you anything," Elizabeth said, giving him a strange look.  
He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to the living room mumbling, "Don't scare me like that."  
She grinned and walked after him, "I could have some fun with this later on..."  
"Shut up."

Soon, Riley had his laptop set up and they were viewing the picture from the London database. Patrick was looking intently at the photo with Abigail, Ben, and Elizabeth behind him and Riley sitting next to him.

"I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are definitely pre-colonial Native American markings," Patrick said.  
"Easily five hundred years old," Ben murmured.  
"Easily... I can identify one symbol," Patrick zoomed in on one glyph, "Look at this, do you know what that is?"  
"Sacred calendrical? I don't know..." Ben said.  
"That symbol is Cibola," Patrick said.  
"That's Cibola, the city of gold... the city of gold," Ben whispered.

They moved to the living room: it was filled with boxes, artifacts, and random furniture from Abigail and Ben's house. Patrick was looking at a book, sitting in a chair by the fireplace. Ben was standing and pacing with a book, murmuring to himself. Abigail sat on the floor looking through a book while Elizabeth and Riley sat on the couch watching Ben pace.

Ben began to read from his book, "'In 1527, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast. There were only four survivors. One was a salve named Esteban who saved a local tribe's dying chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city built from solid gold. Later, when Esteban tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the New World in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended with his last stand, at Little Bighorn, it became clear no one would ever find it.'"

Silence permeated the room.

"Ben, can you imagine if the Confederates got their hands on the City of Gold..." Patrick stood, "My god..." he began to walk out of the room.  
"I'm going to talk to her," Ben said. Patrick stopped and slowly turned around to stare blankly at his son, "You're coming with me."  
"No!" Patrick moaned and tried to escape the room.  
Elizabeth burst into laughter, earning an elbow in her knee from her sister.  
"Hey, no one else can translate it!" Ben said, cutting his father off.  
"There are others... there are _several_ others!"  
"For ancient Native American? There's no one better!"

Abigail moved onto the couch, sandwiching Elizabeth between her sister and Riley.

"Who?" Riley whispered.  
Elizabeth shook her head in amusement. She had a pretty good idea who they were talking about...  
"Look, Ben, I can't go with you, it's been what? Twenty-five years," Patrick reasoned.  
"Thirty-two."  
"That long?" Patrick moved back to the fireplace, not facing Ben, "There's a reason why we haven't spoken in thirty-two years. We have nothing in common!"  
"Me?"  
"Oh, yes of course, and I'm sure she's just as proud of you as I am," Patrick amended.  
"Who?" Riley asked again.  
"His mom," Abigail and Elizabeth whispered.

___

After a couple hours in the car, they had arrived at the University of Maryland, where Ben's mother worked. They were currently walking through a crowded hallway of students.

"Will you relax? It's gonna be fine," Ben said, trying to soothe his agitated father.  
"Sure, should look at the bright side, it's been a long time, maybe she lost her memory, and she won't recognize me. After all, didn't hear a word from her after that Ian business..." Patrick snapped.

They approached her office and a girl ran out and shouted, "I hate her!"

"We're in the right place," Patrick said.

Ben went in first followed by Abigail and Patrick.

"I'm gonna go ahead and take myself out of the line of fire for this one guys," Riley said and sat down on a chair.  
"Same," Elizabeth said and sat on Riley.

Riley wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her back. Elizabeth leaned back into him, looking up at the ceiling happily.

"I wonder where we'll get dragged to next," Riley said, his voice muffled.  
Elizabeth frowned, thinking for a moment, "Most likely to some government building where we'll incur the wrath of the Federal government. The we'll have to run from FBI agents all while trying to find the treasure and not go to jail."  
Riley just groaned in response.

They continued to sit outside the office, not able to hear anything: the halls were still busy with students. After a couple minutes, a triumphant Abigail emerged from the door, followed by a thoughtful Ben, and Patrick who looked like he had a headache.

They followed Ben outside, aware of the tension between father and son.

"So what happened Abigail?" Elizabeth asked.  
"There's a second part to the wooden plank that we have to find," she replied.  
"Of course," Riley muttered, his hands in his pockets.  
"At least we know where the rest of the map is," Ben said suddenly.  
"Correction, you know where it is," Elizabeth said.  
"What?" Riley asked.  
"You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asked in an injured tone.  
"Because obviously you have a tendency to OVERREACT!" Ben shouted the last word, whirling around to glare at his father.

Everyone stopped walking. Patrick flushed and replied sheepishly, "I'm sorry."  
"So am I," Ben mumbled.  
"So where is it?" he asked.  
"The inscription on the statue in Paris said, _'These twins stand resolute.'_"  
"We think the map's divided between the two resolute desks," Abigail said with a resigned sigh.  
"Oh no," Elizabeth moaned.  
"The resolute desk? THE resolute desk? The Presidents desk?!" Patrick said, panic lacing every word.  
Abigail simply nodded her head.  
"The president...? What president? OUR President?!" Riley shrieked.

"Yes," Elizabeth said, shaking her head as if to deny what they were going to do.  
"But that means... Wait so we have to..." he sighed, "The White House?"  
"The Oval Office to be exact," Ben clarified.  
"Why would I overreact to that?" Patrick asked rhetorically.

"I should have placed money on my earlier observation," Elizabeth said to Riley.  
"If you did that every time, we'd be pretty rich," he replied.

* * *

I'm so sorry this is out nearly two months late. I'm a horrible person. I hope to have this series over by the end of summer, but there's no guarantees because I suck at updating. I'd love to hear from you guys, even if you yell at me for not updating.

Aly


	9. Easter Egg Roll

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Nine**

They were back at Patrick's house, researching ways to break into the Oval Office. Riley sat at his laptop with Elizabeth next to him. Abigail and Ben stood behind them both. Patrick walked into the room, looking at a book.

"The Resolute desk is near the south wall in the oval office. Look at this, look," he leaned down and showed them all the picture. It was of President Kennedy sitting at his desk with his young son sitting under it, peering out a small door. (Picture link in my profile.)

"There's a small door on the front of the desk," Ben commented, looking at the book over his father's shoulder.  
"FDR had that put in so guests couldn't see his wheelchair but..." Patrick murmured.

"Guys, take a look at this," Riley said.

On the screen of the computer was the White Houses' website, showing the annual Easter egg roll.

"This could work," Abigail said.  
"Why Abigail, I believe it's time for you to make a date with your new boyfriend," Ben said, not trying to suppress a grin at all.  
"Time for Carl to be of some use," Elizabeth chirped brightly.  
Abigail pointedly ignored her sister, "I think you're right."

___

Elizabeth, Patrick, and Riley were sitting on the curb outside of the White House waiting for Abigail and Ben to finish breaking into the Oval Office. They planned to use Connor's pride against him by tricking him into taking them into the office. Then Abigail would 'lose' an earring and Connor and her would search for it while Ben would get the second piece of the map.

"If this goes off without a hitch, we may just be able to find the treasure without shooting to the top of the FBI's most wanted list again," Riley commented hopefully.  
Elizabeth snorted softly and laid back onto the pavement, her arms crossed behind her head, "Rather unlikely."  
"It's always nice to hope," Patrick chimed in.

A couple minutes passed in companionable silence. Their minds wandered until each of them inevitably found the beaten path in their minds back to Ian: it was a habit none of them could shake. He was always there, lurking in the dark, jumping out whenever he pleased.

Sometimes when Elizabeth closed her eyes, he was there, his laughter ringing in her ears. She could still feel his touch and it sickened her to the point of actually vomiting. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, still lying down.

When Riley had nothing to do, his mind would dredge up the horrible images of Elizabeth presumed dead in the hospital, the picture of Ian leading her away from the ocean, and the blood that gushed out from her gunshot wound. Some nights he couldn't sleep, the images playing repeatedly. He ground his teeth and rubbed his temples, trying to rid the images from his mind for what seemed like the millionth time.

For Patrick, it was the future that frightened him. Ian may be in prison, but they all knew that he was more than capable of escaping: it was just a matter of time. He feared for them all when it happened. Patrick sighed and put his face in his hands, too tired to do anything.

That was how Abigail and Ben found them. They immediately were able to guess what they were all thinking about and they slowed their pace. Abigail let out a shaky sigh, forcing herself not to think about it. Ben felt the familiar rage well up inside him: even behind bars, Ian was still able to torture his father and friends.

"It was empty," he said quietly, breaking everyone out of their morose thoughts.

Elizabeth sat up and looked blankly at him. Patrick lifted his head and Riley opened his eyes to stare at him.

"Someone must have taken it," Abigail added.

They all stood and began to walk back to the car.

"The brightest men in our country sat at that desk for over a hundred years," Patrick commented.  
"Take a look at this..." Ben pulled out his digital camera.  
"Course one of 'em found the map," Patrick finished.  
"There's a symbol stamped into the wood," Ben said.  
"The presidential seal," Patrick said, glancing at the image.  
"It's not the presidential seal: see, the eagle's holding a scroll instead of olive branches," Abigail pointed out, standing behind Ben.

Elizabeth peered over her sister's shoulder at the picture. Riley walked away from them, deep in thought.

"I'm not sure what this is," Ben continued.  
"What do we do?" Patrick asked no one in particular.  
"Riley!" Elizabeth exclaimed, the picture finally clicking in her memory.  
"Did none of you read my book besides Elizabeth? The eagle clutching the scroll..." Riley asked, exasperated, spinning around at her exclamation.  
"Do you know what it means?" Ben asked Riley and Elizabeth.  
"Yeah, but it's not something I could tell you, it's something that I have to show you... in my book," Riley said, grinning.

Ben opened his car up and searched through an open box. He took out a package and opened it up, taking out Riley's book.

"You didn't even open it?" Riley asked dejectedly.  
"I was moving," Ben said awkwardly.  
"Chapter 13," Riley muttered, turning away from the group.  
"_'The President's Secret Book'_?" Ben asked skeptically.  
"_'The President's Secret Book'_" Riley said triumphantly, "It happens to be a collection of documents for presidents by presidents and for presidents eyes only. And I'm not just talking about JFK here guys: the eighteen and a half missing minutes of the Watergate tapes. Did the Apollo really land on the moon? Did it? **Did it?** And the coup de grace... Area 51."  
"Uh, come on Riley, that's... an urban legend!" Abigail exclaimed.  
"Is it Abigail? Is it?" Riley asked.  
"It's just totally..." she continued.  
"Crazy?" Elizabeth interjected.

Abigail glanced at her sister skeptically.

"Sis, the last time I checked, we pretty much make our living off of crazy," Elizabeth pointed out.  
"She's got a point," Ben said.  
"I guess so," Abigail said grudgingly.  
"Same symbol," Patrick pointed out from the picture in the book.  
"It was released in '66 under the Freedom of Information Act: the eagle and the scroll, the secret symbol in the president's book," Riley clarified about the picture in the book.  
"So you're saying that whatever was on that plank is now in the President's Secret Book?" Patrick asked.  
"Ben, if it was you trying to convince me, you'd have less evidence and I would already believe you by now," Riley said quietly.

Ben nodded his head and after a moment of silence smiled. He stuck his hand for Riley to shake.

"All right Riley," he said.  
Elizabeth positively beamed at Riley.  
"I'm going to talk to Sadusky and then we'll make a plan from there ok?" he continued.  
They all nodded, happy to know that soon they'd have a plan.

And in Elizabeth's point of view, plans were good. They usually entailed breaking into things, which she was becoming rather of fond of lately. What was life without a little risk? And there were no other people she'd rather break the law with then the ones she was with right now.

* * *

I am so sorry this took so long to get out. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here. Things have bad at home, my parents are getting divorced so I've been distracted. I just want to again thank everyone for faving this story, adding me to you fav author list, and above all reviewing. I absolutely love reviews and they help me get refocused on writing. We're getting to my favorite parts, so I'm sure updates will occur faster simply because Elizabeth plus breaking the law equals hilarious scenes. Thanks again for all the support!

Aly


	10. Macho Man Diary

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Ten**

"So what did Sadusky say?" asked Elizabeth, fidgeting on the couch.  
"Yeah, what'd he cough up?" Riley asked, sitting nearby in a chair.  
"Really, no need to pester him," Abby said lightly, sitting next to Elizabeth, "Now, Ben," She turned towards him, "What did he say?"  
Everyone rolled their eyes.

"He said that only that the book exists and that only the president knows where it is. He said it's passed from president to president and the only way I'll see it is if I get elected to the office," Ben said quietly, leaning back in his chair.

"That could be a problem," Patrick murmured, pacing slowly in between them all.  
"I'd vote for him," Elizabeth pointed out.  
"It's not like the popular vote even counts," Riley muttered. (1)

"All I need is a few minutes with him," Ben said, breaking the silence.  
"Even if you were married to the president, you wouldn't be able to get a few minutes," Riley said.  
"How do you expect to get the president alone?" Elizabeth asked.

Ben paused, thinking, "Before the Civil War, the states were all separate. People used to say, _'The United States are.'_ Wasn't until the war ended people started saying, _'The United States is.'_ Under Lincoln... we became one nation," Ben said.  
"And Lincoln paid for it with his life," Patrick interjected.  
"So did Thomas Gates," Ben said hotly.  
"Right," Patrick murmured.  
"With his life... So, how am I gonna get him alone?" Ben asked rhetorically.  
"Please don't be melodramatic," Elizabeth whispered to herself, closing her eyes childishly.  
"I'm gonna kidnap him. I'm gonna kidnap the president of the United States," he finished.

Elizabeth began to laugh. Honestly, could Ben ever deliver his law-breaking news without the dramatics?

"That's not funny," Abigail said, glaring at her sister and Ben, her voice rising in pitch.  
"I'm your father! How do you expect me to respond? I can't let you ruin your life!" Patrick snapped, standing up.  
"Are you out of your mind? Read my book, and you'd know you CAN'T get to that book!" Riley shouted, waving his arms around as if to prove his point.

Elizabeth cocked her head to the side and studied Ben carefully.

"Exactly how do you plan on doing this?" she asked calmly, raising her eyebrows, as if to say, _'I'm in but not unless you have a plan.'_  
"I was thinking Mount Vernon," he said.  
"Oh," Patrick said, seeming to understand the significance.  
"What...?" Abigail asked, a sigh in her voice.  
"I'm in," Riley said, giving up on reasoning with his friend.  
Elizabeth sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm in, although I don't know why. It was low dragging Lincoln into this though."

Ben shrugged and smiled at them. They had some planning to do.

___

"I feel so... nefarious," Elizabeth commented.  
Riley snorted, typing away at his laptop. "Is that a common occurrence for you?"  
She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before grinning, "Yeah I guess it kind of is."  
After a couple minutes of comfortable silence, Riley commented, "Time to make some phone calls."  
"Good luck with that, I'm gonna check on the others," Elizabeth said, kissing him on the cheek.

Elizabeth stood up and went to the kitchen to make a couple sandwiches. She passed Ben, who was sketching out a game plan and Abigail, who was sitting next to him, typing up expenses and logistics. She slapped together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and made her way back to Riley, who was booking hotels so the President would be forced to have his birthday bash at Mount Vernon. She tossed a sandwich into his hands while he was on the phone.

"Yeah, I know it's short notice but the pipe burst in the hotel that we previously booked, I... There is water _everywhere_!" he exclaimed, chuckling to himself.

Patrick walked by, on a phone with a different hotel. "A retirement party for 200 people... Gunston Hall."  
"Oh wow," Riley said, throwing down the rest of his sandwich, "You are a lifesaver."  
"I see how much you think of my sandwich skills," Elizabeth muttered dryly, eating her sandwich.

Riley hung up and picked up the remainder of his sandwich, "I think your sandwiches are fantastic, but I think we've accomplished our goal of operation Mount Vernon."  
"Well that's good, remind me again why it has to be Mount Vernon," she asked.  
"Because of some underground tunnels that Ben can get the President in and talk to him about the location of the book."  
"Right... We're going to jail for awhile aren't we?"  
Riley sat up and looked at her strangely, "Where's my optimist?"  
Elizabeth sighed and smiled back, "Just feeling reality knocking on the front door."  
"Don't worry, we'll find some loophole: we always do," he said, reassuring her, and taking a bite.  
"That's true. I mean, I sure don't want to go to jail over some presidential macho man diary."

Riley began to choke on his sandwich, "What?! It's not a... a _diary!_ It's... it's... AREA 51!!! NOT a diary. And besides, men don't have diaries. If you must put a label, call it journaling, but the president's secret book **is not a diary!**" He stood up and walked out of the room, muttering about the 'absurdities of women and their jargon'.

Patrick came into the room and took Riley's seat. He picked up the rest of the sandwich and began to eat it. "Presidential diary eh?"

She just rolled her eyes, "You'd think I just burned all his electronic equipment."

* * *

(1) The way to elect the President of the United States is not by the popular vote. The Electoral College votes for the President and that's how he/she'll get elected. That's why some President's who have lost the popular vote can still be elected into office. Some states have provisions that state those representing them in the College must vote with the popular vote, but that's not all the states.

http:/ /people. howstuffworks. com/ question472. htm

A little in between chapter to set up for the action that's going to come soon. I hope you guys like it!

Aly


	11. Conventionalism and how it sucks

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Eleven**

Elizabeth impatiently drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. She let out an irritated sigh and continued the drumming.

"This really sucks," she mumbled.

Abigail and Riley were in another car, waiting by the side of the highway, ready to react to anything the FBI threw at them. Namely, getting a head start on finding the book. Patrick was boating Ben up the river by the house. Once he'd successfully deploy Ben, he would pretend to fish. The youngest Gates was going to scuba-dive to shore, pretend to be a waiter and somehow lure the President into a set of tunnels. Elizabeth was acting as the getaway driver, per se.

She began to fiddle with the radio stations, really wishing for the umpteenth time that they all had ear pieces and microphones on them. It would make it so much easier to know what was going on. But Ben wanted the President to trust him so no one but the two men would hear their secret conversation. The rest of them had to sit in silence and be all... _conventional_ and use their cell phones to contact each other.

She sighed again and leaned back in her seat, figuring she should catch a quick nap before Patrick came back.

That's how she was found twenty minutes later: sprawled out on the driver's seat, drooling a little and completely conked out. Patrick chuckled and let himself into the passenger seat. She started and sat up, glancing blearily over at Patrick, and rubbing her eyes.

"Success?" she asked, cracking her back and wiping the moisture off her face.  
"I suppose. I wasn't able to see him get to shore but I have no doubt he's going to be successful," Patrick murmured, buckling himself in.

Elizabeth rubbed her face and slapped her cheeks lightly in an attempt to wake up, "Alrighty, time to go to Ben's location and then off to steal the President's diary!  
Patrick chuckled, "Riley still hasn't forgiven you for that, has he?"  
She pouted and put the car in gear, "No, he's still in denial."

They drove in amicable silence, parking in the woods on a lonely dirt path. After a couple minutes Elizabeth turned the radio off and sighed.

"I wish we had a police scanner so we could hear what was going on. It'd be nice to know when the President disappears," she commented.  
Patrick chuckled, "You would think that kidnapping the President would be a lot harder and require a lot more gear, but the most simple of plans are often the most successful."  
After a couple seconds of thoughtful silence Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, "If I rub your belly, will you tell me more wisdom-filled things?"  
Patrick glanced over at Elizabeth who was grinning from ear to ear. "Did your parents ever-"  
"Drop me? No, but one time when Abby was supposed to be watching me, I ate some glue."  
She smiled even brighter at Patrick's look of _'ah-ha!'_

Then, they both noticed movement off to the right of the road. Elizabeth and Patrick were relieved to see Ben walking briskly towards. He got into the back of the car and Elizabeth began to drive.

"Where to Ben?" she asked, her eyes on the road.  
"Library of Congress," he said, rubbing a crick out of his neck.  
"How did it go son?" Patrick asked.  
"He took it pretty well I guess. We should have enough time to get to the book before he gets back to his men," Ben replied.  
"Yeah, but I'm not counting on it," Elizabeth said, accelerating a little over the speed limit once they were on pavement.

Ben nodded and pulled out his cell phone to inform Abigail and Riley what was going on.

___

As they sped down the streets of DC, Elizabeth spoke up.  
"I used to feel bad for the FBI," she commented.  
"Used to?" Ben asked, sitting in the middle of the seats, eagerly looking at the library from afar.  
"Yeah, but then I think of how it's only fitting that they really _work_ for their salary. After all, my tax dollars should be spent efficiently."  
Patrick chuckled, "Just not _too_ efficiently. Wouldn't want them to think they have it easy."  
"Too true my dear man, too true."

Ben glanced between his father and Elizabeth: there's was a strange camaraderie to be sure. If one were to listen to their talk, it was if they were old friends for many years. He supposed it had to do with the fact that they both had fallen into Ian's hands and had bonded over it, however brief or horrible a time it had been. Tragedies often have ways of binding people together.

"Are you going to go in Elizabeth?" Patrick asked after a couple moments of silence.  
"Hellz to the yes!" she glanced back at Ben's incredulous face, "I mean, please?"  
Ben chuckled, "Of course, it would be out of character for you not to want to see the... _diary_."  
"I'm glad you're finally learning," she chirped with an impish grin.

They pulled up in front of the library and Ben and Elizabeth jumped out. Patrick got out to move to the driver's side.

"Good luck!" he called out.  
"Luck's got nothin' to do with it!" Elizabeth called out cheerily, waving as she followed Ben up the steps.

They met Abigail and Riley at the top of a set of stairs outside the library and nodded their greetings. No words were spoken: they knew what they were here for and they needed to accomplish it quickly. They just hoped they could get out before the FBI descended.

* * *

It's getting harder to write lately and my schoolwork is trying to kill me. However, we're coming up to my favorite part of the movie so that should inspire me to write faster. Thank you for sticking with me so far, I really don't know you guys have stuck around. I hope you guys liked this chapter, pretty much a filler but I'm happy with it.

Aly


End file.
